Can you believe that we started Birdorable way back in 2006?! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we will start our annual Birdorable Bonanza this Friday, revealing a new bird each day for 10 days. We'll share the birds here on the blog and on our Facebook page, so stay tuned!

Last year, in a public poll conducted by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Canadian citizens voted for an unofficial national bird to represent their country. The finalists were: the Canada Goose, long associated with the national identiy; the Common Loon, a bird featured on Canadian currency; the Black-capped Chickadee; the Snowy Owl; and the Gray Jay. The Common Loon won the popular vote, but the Gray Jay was selected by Canadian Geographic to be Canada's new national bird.

Some of the birds on the list were already recognized as official provincial birds in Canada: the Black-capped Chickadee of New Brunswick; the Common Loon of Ontario; and the Snowy Owl of Quebec.

Gray Jays are found in all of Canada's provinces and remain on location year-round. These plucky little gregarious birds are known for their intelligence. Other jays officially representing Canada are the official provicial birds of Yukon (Common Raven), Prince Edward Island (Blue Jay) and British Columbia (Steller's Jay).

Officially, Canada has two animal national symbols that are recognized by the federal government: the beaver and the Canadian Horse share the title of National Animal of Canada. It is unclear if the government will recognize the Gray Jay, or any other species, as the National Bird of Canada.

This fun Costa Rica design, featuring some of the country's most beautiful birds, is shown here on a comfortable classic baseball jersey for women, made from 100% super-soft ring-spun cotton by Bella. The design is also available on dozens of other t-shirt styles and colors.

The Keel-billed Toucan is found across much of Costa Rica, except for along parts of the Pacific Coast. The Resplendent Quetzal is a specialty found along the central mountains. The Collared Redstart is endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama. And the Scarlet Macaw, once nearly extirpated from the country, can now be found in two isolated regions along the Pacific Coast.

This is a great design for birders who have been to Costa Rica or love birding in this amazing Central American country.

Happy Halloween from Birdorable! Do you recognize the above birds? They're the Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse and Black-capped Chickadee, all common backyard birds in the United States, hanging around two carved pumpkins. If you're still looking to do something today to celebrate Halloween, before you're going out trick-or-treating tonight, you can check out these original Halloween Birdorable coloring pages with some of our favorite birds:

Here are direct links to the coloring pages:

• Halloween Scarlet Macaw and Cockatiel Coloring Page (more about the Scarlet Macaw and Cockatiel)
• Halloween Eurasian Eagle-Owl Coloring Page (more about the Eurasian Eagle-Owl)
• Halloween King Vulture Coloring Page (more about the King Vulture)
• Halloween American Kestrel Coloring Page (more about the American Kestrel)
• Halloween Barn Owl Coloring Page (more about the Barn Owl
• Halloween Indian Vulture Coloring Page (more about the Indian Vulture)
• Halloween California Condor Coloring Page (more about the California Condor)
• Halloween Tufted Titmouse Coloring Page (more about the Tufted Titmouse)

Go to coloring pages to find over 100 others to download and follow us on our Blog or on Facebook to get notified when new downloads like this are added.

Have you used our coloring pages at home, in your classroom, or at an event? We'd love to hear about it! Send us photos of the pages in action, or the final result – we may showcase them on our blog!

Blue Jays are large, bold songbirds that live across much of North America. They are common throughout their range, which includes the eastern two-thirds of the continent. Here are some facts about this familiar and widespread species.

• There are at least four subspecies of Blue Jay accepted by most authorities. The Florida Blue Jay weighs an average of just 74 grams, while Northern Blue Jays weigh in at 92 grams or more. Plumage differences between the subspecies are subtle, with some birds showing brighter plumage than others. The other two subspecies are the Coastal Blue Jay and the Interior Blue Jay.
• Blue Jays are omnivorous. They feed on a wide variety of food items, including large insects, acorns, bird seed, frogs, carrion, eggs from other birds, berries, and more. They love peanuts!

Blue Jay by Martin Cathrae [CC BY-SA 2.0]

• Blue Jays are in the Corvid family, a group of birds that includes crows and ravens and is known for intelligence and curiosity.
• Blue Jays are generally year-round residents throughout most of their range. Birds may move seasonally depending on availability of food. But jays are also known to migrate in huge flocks around the Great Lakes and on the Atlantic coast. The reasons for this great movement is a mystery.
• Blue Jays are skilled mimics. They are able to impersonate the calls of other birds, including raptors. A Blue Jay may mimic the call of a Red-tailed Hawk or a Red-shouldered Hawk in order to frighten other birds off of feeders so the jay can eat in peace. Calling out as a raptor may also serve to determine if any actual predatory birds are in the area.
• Blue Jays are known to mob potential predators. A Blue Jay or a group of jays that finds a predator, like a bird of prey or a snake, will call out a warning to other birds. They will also chase or dive-bomb predators to get them to leave the area.
• Blue Jays can raise or lower their crests. A crest at rest means the bird is relaxed. A raised crest indicates agression or excitement.
• Adult male and female Blue Jays look alike. They have the same coloration all year.

Blue Jay gathering nest material by Amy Evenstad for Birdorable

• Blue Jays mate for life.
• The longevity record for a Blue Jay living in captivity is over 26 years. The record for wild Blue Jays is over 17 years. This is known via bird banding programs.
• Blue Jays are particularly susceptible to West Nile virus. The disease can deccimate populations locally, but recent outbreaks have not significantly affected the global Blue Jay population.
• The Blue Jay is the official bird of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.

Today, March 14, is traditionally celebrated as Pi Day -- because when the date is written 3/14, it represents the first three significant numbers of Pi. Pie day may be celebrated by eating pie, but since we like birds, today seems like a good day to celebrate the family of birds that has pie right in the name: Magpies!

There are three groups of true magpies. The four species of magpie in the genus Pica are the Holarctic, or black-and-white, magpies. The nine species of Oriental magpie are generally blue-green and are in the Urocissa genus and the Cissa genus. The azure-winged magpie belongs in the genus Cyanopica. Here are some fun facts about this group of intelligent and curious birds.

• Magpies belong to the Corvid family, which makes them closely related to birds like jays, crows, and ravens.
• The cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle are a pair of magpies.
• There are several collective nouns used to describe a group of magpies, including "a gulp of magpies" and "a mischief of magpies."
• Magpies aren't the only birds with "pie" in their name. Another group in the Corvid family is the treepies. One bird in this group has a confusing name: the Black Magpie of Asia.
• Another bird with a confusing name is the Australian Magpie. This species isn't a magpie at all! Although its black-and-white plumage is very magpie-like, this species belongs in a different genus and is closely related to the Butcherbirds of Australasia.
• A recent taxonomical split may have added a new species of magpie to the list. The Azure-winged Magpie has an usual fragmented range with part of the population in southwestern Europe and part over in eastern Asia. Some ornithologists consider the two populations to be separate species, naming the European bird the Iberian Magpie.
• The Javan Green Magpie is the most endangered species of magpie. Endemic to Indonesia, it is considered to be Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Other endemic species of magpie include the Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, found only in Sri Lanka, and the Yellow-billed Magpie, found only in the U.S. state of California.

The Say's Phoebe is a medium-sized flycatcher found in western parts of North America. Most birds are migratory, though some birds in the southern part of the range are year-round residents. The Say's Phoebe is the northern-most breeding flycatcher in the New World. The bird is shown here on a Women's Camouflage T-Shirt, which has a ribbed crew neck, double-needle hemmed sleeves and bottom and comes in sizes S to 2XL. The design is available on many different t-shirt styles and other products. This is our totally cute Birdorable Say's Phoebe